Hiring Improvement Training held for supervisor and managers at Ft. McNair

Hiring Improvement Training for all U.S. Army Military District of Washington and Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region managers and supervisors was held at Ft. McNair on Aug. 25-26. Howard Seamens, project lead, Office of the Secretary of Defense, led the training session.

The mandatory training was designed for supervisors and managers to have a working level understanding of the hiring process and how the system is being transformed to shorten the recruitment process. Seamens stated "Through effective planning we can reduce our hiring cycle significantly."

Currently, the Federal hiring process is "lengthy and encumbered by burdensome requirement and outdated technology systems. Complaints about the current system include lack of quality referral lists, claims that Resumix is broken and can't produce good lists, and the loss of experienced staffing specialists," said Seamens.

The new process is designed for management and human resources to use a collaborative approach to streamline the current process. During the workshop managers and supervisors reviewed and validated each U.S. Army Military District of Washington position description. The new recruitment process is designed to help managers and supervisors hire candidates within 80 days instead of the current recruitment time which is 174 or more days.

During the workshop managers and supervisors participated in a Federal Human Resources Management 101 course, a hiring manager candidate quality survey, Federal Resources Management 201 course and review of workforce hiring tools. They also reviewed the hiring timeline, assessed the strategic workforce plan and reviewed a planning checklist used in the hiring process.

Managers and supervisors worked on position folder contents and validated position descriptions, assessments, job declarative statements and interview questions that can and cannot be used during the interview process.

The goal of streamlining the process said Seamens is to "recruit and hire the most talented and diverse Federal workforce possible to serve the American people."